-By Ray Bennett
For movie details, please click here.
Jon Amiel's
Creation is bound to spark controversy because
it depicts Charles Darwin struggling with his epochal 1859 work On
the Origin of Species, though it's much more than a red flag to
religious fundamentalists. The opening-night film at the Toronto
International Film Festival is an intelligent, touching depiction
of a brilliant man sure of his scientific skills but tormented not
only by remorse over the loss of a beloved child but also by the
realization that he has lost his faith.
It is shot beautifully and boasts performances by Paul Bettany as
Darwin and his real-life wife, Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, as
Darwin's wife, Emma, that should attract awards attention.
Thoughtful and memorable, it will do well with grown-up audiences
across the board.
Working from a book titled
Annie's Box by Darwin's
great-great-grandson Randal Keynes, screenwriter John Collee shows
the scientist as a fully engaged husband and father who buckles
under the weight of his daughter Annie's death, for which he blames
himself.
Collee and director Amiel move seamlessly back and forth from the
lovely times when Annie (Martha West) was the apple of her father's
eye to the present as he is wracked with writer's block and the
fear that by writing his book, he will lose the love of his deeply
religious wife.
Thanks to the writing, pacing and Bettany's nuanced performance,
Creation is one of the best delineations of intellectual and
emotional struggle seen on film in many a year. The actor's scenes
with Annie and Emma have an extraordinary tenderness that grips the
heart just as Darwin's scientific dilemma engages the brain. West
is unaffected and winning as the girl, and Connelly, with a perfect
English accent, shows the wife's anguish as well as her undying
loyalty.
Amiel's greatest achievement is that
Creation is a deeply
human film with moments of genuine lightness and high spirits to go
with all the deep thinking. Louise Stjernsward's costumes and
Laurence Dorman's production design plus the English countryside
make it all very handsome, and cinematographer Jess Hall and editor
Melanie Oliver deserve top marks. Christopher Young's score is apt
and extremely pleasing.
It would be a great shame if those with religious convictions
spurned the film out of hand, as they will find it evenhanded and
wise.
-
The Hollywood Reporter
Film Review: Creation
Spirited and moving tale about Charles Darwin, with fine performances and considerable wisdom.
Jan 19, 2010
-By Ray Bennett
For movie details, please click here.
Jon Amiel's
Creation is bound to spark controversy because it depicts Charles Darwin struggling with his epochal 1859 work On the Origin of Species, though it's much more than a red flag to religious fundamentalists. The opening-night film at the Toronto International Film Festival is an intelligent, touching depiction of a brilliant man sure of his scientific skills but tormented not only by remorse over the loss of a beloved child but also by the realization that he has lost his faith.
It is shot beautifully and boasts performances by Paul Bettany as Darwin and his real-life wife, Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, as Darwin's wife, Emma, that should attract awards attention. Thoughtful and memorable, it will do well with grown-up audiences across the board.
Working from a book titled
Annie's Box by Darwin's great-great-grandson Randal Keynes, screenwriter John Collee shows the scientist as a fully engaged husband and father who buckles under the weight of his daughter Annie's death, for which he blames himself.
Collee and director Amiel move seamlessly back and forth from the lovely times when Annie (Martha West) was the apple of her father's eye to the present as he is wracked with writer's block and the fear that by writing his book, he will lose the love of his deeply religious wife.
Thanks to the writing, pacing and Bettany's nuanced performance,
Creation is one of the best delineations of intellectual and emotional struggle seen on film in many a year. The actor's scenes with Annie and Emma have an extraordinary tenderness that grips the heart just as Darwin's scientific dilemma engages the brain. West is unaffected and winning as the girl, and Connelly, with a perfect English accent, shows the wife's anguish as well as her undying loyalty.
Amiel's greatest achievement is that
Creation is a deeply human film with moments of genuine lightness and high spirits to go with all the deep thinking. Louise Stjernsward's costumes and Laurence Dorman's production design plus the English countryside make it all very handsome, and cinematographer Jess Hall and editor Melanie Oliver deserve top marks. Christopher Young's score is apt and extremely pleasing.
It would be a great shame if those with religious convictions spurned the film out of hand, as they will find it evenhanded and wise.
-
The Hollywood Reporter
